Accueil / Romance / Married To The Devil I Betrayed / CHAPTER 106 The Missing Years

Partager

CHAPTER 106 The Missing Years

last update Date de publication: 2026-06-30 18:51:17

For several seconds after Lucian spoke, nobody in the conference room moved.

The enlarged photograph remained projected on the screen.

Evelyn Cross stood near the center of the image, surrounded by donors, executives, politicians, and guests attending a Sterling Foundation gala from nearly a decade earlier.

Yet nobody was looking at Evelyn anymore.

Every eye in the room had shifted to the man standing beside her.

A man who should have been insignificant.

A man who had somehow become important.

Continuez à lire ce livre gratuitement
Scanner le code pour télécharger l'application
Chapitre verrouillé

Dernier chapitre

  • Married To The Devil I Betrayed   CHAPTER 108 The Last Meeting

    The private viewing room remained silent long after Elena finished reading Gabriel Mercer's letter.The words had settled over everyone like a heavy fog, leaving behind an unsettling realization that none of them had expected. Gabriel had not pointed them toward a villain they could expose or a confession that neatly explained the past. Instead, he had quietly dismantled the assumptions that had guided their investigation from the very beginning.For months they had believed Elena's downfall was the center of the story. Gabriel's journal suggested something entirely different. Elena's tragedy had been one consequence of a much older chain of events, one that had already been unfolding long before she ever crossed paths with Lucian Moretti.Anton rested his elbows on the polished table and looked thoughtfully at the leather journal lying open before him."I've investigated enough corporate fraud to recognize a familiar pattern," he said. "Most investigations begin with money. Follow th

  • Married To The Devil I Betrayed   CHAPTER 107 The Contents of the Box

    The following morning arrived with the kind of gray sky that seemed determined to keep the sun hidden.Elena barely noticed.Her mind had been occupied by one thing since Anton's phone call the night before.The safety deposit box.She stood near the entrance of the private banking office, watching rain slide down the tall windows while Lucian spoke quietly with Anton a few feet away.Nora was reviewing notes on her tablet.Nina was drinking coffee and looking profoundly suspicious of everything around her."Why does every place that guards secrets look exactly like this?" Nina asked.Elena glanced around.Polished marble floors.Muted lighting.Expensive furniture.Discreet security."It looks like a bank.""It looks like a movie set pretending to be a bank."Lucian laughed.The sound earned a triumphant look from Nina."See? Even Mr. Serious agrees with me.""I didn't agree.""You laughed.""That's not the same thing.""It is in my world."Before Nina could continue, a bank represen

  • Married To The Devil I Betrayed   CHAPTER 106 The Missing Years

    For several seconds after Lucian spoke, nobody in the conference room moved.The enlarged photograph remained projected on the screen.Evelyn Cross stood near the center of the image, surrounded by donors, executives, politicians, and guests attending a Sterling Foundation gala from nearly a decade earlier.Yet nobody was looking at Evelyn anymore.Every eye in the room had shifted to the man standing beside her.A man who should have been insignificant.A man who had somehow become important.Lucian rose slowly from his chair and walked closer to the screen.The memory had come to him gradually, like a face glimpsed through fog.Now he was certain."I know him."Nora immediately looked up from her laptop."Who is he?"Lucian studied the image."His name is Gabriel Mercer."The name meant nothing to Elena.Nothing to Nina.Even Anton frowned slightly.Lucian continued."He was a senior executive at Moretti Group years ago."Nora's fingers immediately moved across the keyboard.Lucian

  • Married To The Devil I Betrayed   CHAPTER 105 The Trail She Left Behind

    The photograph sat in the center of Elena's desk long after everyone else had stopped staring at it.Evelyn Cross.Alive.Or at least alive when the photograph had been taken.For years the world had believed she was dead. There had been records, reports, a funeral, and a grave. Everything necessary to close a chapter and discourage further questions.Now all of it meant nothing.Elena leaned back in her chair and looked through the floor-to-ceiling windows of her office at Helix Dynamics.The city stretched endlessly beyond the glass, alive with movement and possibility.Normally the view grounded her.Today it only reminded her how many pieces remained missing.A knock interrupted her thoughts.Before she could answer, Nina walked in carrying two coffees."You've been staring at the same photograph for twenty minutes."Elena accepted the coffee."Have you been timing me?""Of course.""That's unsettling."Nina sat down across from her."I'd be more concerned if you weren't obsessed

  • Married To The Devil I Betrayed   CHAPTER 104 The One Who Died

    The following morning began earlier than anyone would have preferred.Elena arrived at Helix Dynamics before sunrise, carrying a coffee she barely touched and a mind that refused to slow down.The witness.The name from Victor Hale's notebook had occupied every spare corner of her thoughts since Anton's late-night phone call.For years she had lived with unanswered questions.Now, for the first time, she had the possibility of an actual answer.Not a theory or speculation. A person.Someone who had seen enough to frighten Victor Hale into leaving warnings behind.Someone who had apparently vanished so completely that the world believed they were dead.As she stepped off the elevator, she found Nina already waiting outside her office.The sight didn't surprise her.Nina had always possessed an uncanny ability to appear exactly where she was needed.Or where she wanted information.The distinction was often difficult to determine."You look terrible."Elena rolled her eyes."Good mornin

  • Married To The Devil I Betrayed   CHAPTER 103 The Witness

    Sleep proved impossible.Elena eventually stopped pretending otherwise.Around three in the morning, she abandoned the idea entirely, slipped quietly from her room, and made her way downstairs.The house was silent.The temporary move into Lucian's residence for additional security had gradually become routine over the past several weeks. At first it had felt strange. Uncomfortable, even. Now it simply felt practical.The circumstances that had brought them there remained unresolved.Until those circumstances changed, so would their living arrangements.Elena carried a mug of tea into the kitchen and settled onto one of the stools overlooking the darkened garden.The contents of Victor Hale's letter had followed her into the night.Not because they provided answers but because they dismantled assumptions.For years, she had believed she understood the worst thing that had ever happened to her.She had believed she knew the shape of her betrayal.The people involved, the motivations, t

  • Married To The Devil I Betrayed   CHAPTER SEVENTY THREE When Loyalty Starts Breaking Apart

    The first thing Lucian noticed Monday morning was that people stopped talking when he entered the room.Not everyone.Not obviously.But enough.Enough for instinct to recognize what pride preferred not to name.The executive conference room on the thirty-second floor had always carried a certain r

  • Married To The Devil I Betrayed   CHAPTER SIXTY EIGHT When a Witness Becomes a Target

    By the time the morning meeting was supposed to begin, Daniel Kessler had already disappeared from the system.It wasn’t obvious at first.At 8:05 a.m., his calendar still reflected the scheduled follow-up session with the investigative team. At 8:12, his access badge registered at the building ent

  • Married To The Devil I Betrayed   CHAPTER SIXTY SIX When the Trail Begins to Point

    The investigation did not slow down.If anything, it gathered a kind of quiet momentum that made it harder to interrupt. What had begun as a response to public pressure was now moving with its own internal logic, one that did not care about comfort or reputation.By mid-morning, Lucian sat in a sma

  • Married To The Devil I Betrayed   CHAPTER SIXTY FOUR When Pressure Demands a Response

    By the time the markets opened, the story had already outrun containment.It was no longer just an article tucked into the serious corners of financial journalism. It had been quoted, dissected, reframed, and redistributed until even people who had never cared about corporate disputes suddenly had

Plus de chapitres
Découvrez et lisez de bons romans gratuitement
Accédez gratuitement à un grand nombre de bons romans sur GoodNovel. Téléchargez les livres que vous aimez et lisez où et quand vous voulez.
Lisez des livres gratuitement sur l'APP
Scanner le code pour lire sur l'application
DMCA.com Protection Status